In
the weeks leading up to the draft, Perfect Game will be providing a
detailed overview of each state in the U.S., including the District
of Columbia, as well as Canada and Puerto Rico. These overviews will
list the state's strengths, weaknesses and the players with the best
tools, as well as providing scouting reports on all Group 1 and 2
players as ranked in Perfect Game's state-by-state scouting lists.

Contributing:
Allan SimpsonPuerto Rico State-by-State List2011 Puerto Rico Overview
Puerto
Rico Overview:History-Making
Year in Works for Puerto RicoThis
should be a historic draft year for Puerto Rico as it will likely
result in the highest-ever pick from the island in shortstop Carlos
Correa, and the highest-ever pitcher drafted in either righthander
Jose Orlando Berrios or Edwin Diaz.
The
supremely-talented Correa is assured of going in the top 6-7 picks,
and is even a candidate to go first overall as has worked out for the
Houston Astros, who hold the top pick. Few would be surprised if that
development were to occur, just as few would be surprised if as many
as four Puerto Ricans are selected on the first day of the draft
(encompassing the first 60 picks), with shortstop Jesmuel Valentin
Diaz the logical player added to the afore-mentioned trio.
The
talent inflow from Puerto Rico this year hardly ends with those four
as there are at least four more players that have realistic chances
of being picked within the top 5-6 rounds. In 2011, three Puerto
Ricans were selected in the top five rounds.
The
dramatic spike in Puerto Rican talent comes at an ironic time in the
evolution of the draft, especially with new draft rules in place this
year that may have far-reaching implications for international
players.
Puerto
Ricans have never been particularly happy that Major League Baseball
took the step in 1990 to include the Commonwealth with the rest of
the United States (and Canada in 1991) in having its players be part
of a restrictive draft process, instead of having the freedom to sign
on the open market as international free agents, like other Caribbean
nations, as had previously been the case.
Some
Puerto Ricans who have remained close to the baseball scene have even
cited the draft as one of the causes in what is perceived as a
decline in the popularity of the sport on the island, especially from
its heyday in the ‘60s to ‘80s.
With
a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that has numerous draft
implications, however, it seems inevitable that there will be some
sort of universal international draft in place by as soon as 2014
that would incorporate players from other Caribbean hotbeds such as
the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. There has been much discussion
that Puerto Rico’s young prospects would be included in that draft,
rather than the current domestic draft, a concept influential
baseball officials in Puerto Rico seem amenable to.
A
sidebar of note relative to the current Puerto Rican crop has been
the emergence of a strong second option for those players who may not
have the physical tools to move immediately to professional baseball
in the U.S., but could develop those tools with more work and time.
At least five Puerto Ricans in this draft class have signed college
commitments with Alabama State, and all seem to be the type of player
who would strongly benefit from three or four years of college
baseball, an option that has been all too infrequently unavailable to
Puerto Rican players in the past.
Alabama
State is coached by Mervyl Melendez, a Puerto Rican native who
established strong ties to Puerto Rico while coaching for 12 years at
Florida’s Bethune-Cookman College, but has apparently become even
more aggressive in his pursuit of talent from the island, in his
second year at his new school.Puerto
Rico in a nutshell:
STRENGTH:
Premium front-line talent.WEAKNESS:
Lefthanded pitching.OVERALL
RATING
(1-to-5 scale): 5.PROSPECT
ON THE RISE: Eduardo Rivera, of, Adolfina de Puig HS, Toa Baja.
Rivera was a virtual unknown, even among Puerto Rican scouts, at the
beginning of the spring season, and there have even been whispers
that one big-league team may have been hiding him out with the goal
of slipping him through to the draft sight unseen at major scouting
events. That won’t happen now as word of Rivera’s blinding speed
leaked out and he was included among other elite Puerto Rican
prospects in the Excellence Games in early May. Rivera ran the 60 in
a lightning-fast 6.3 seconds at that event and comparisons were
immediately made to another former Puerto Rican speedster, Reymond
Fuentes, a 2009 first-round pick of the Boston Red Sox. The attending
Major League Scouting Bureau immediately slapped an OFP grade of 56
(on a scale of 20 to 80) on Rivera, the second-highest ranking of any
player in the 2012 Puerto Rican draft class behind star shortstop
Carlos Correa (58). While Rivera’s skills are raw and his resume
too short to be drafted where that grade might normally imply, Rivera
generated enough interest to have a strong chance of going inside the
first five rounds.WILD
CARD: Jorge Fernandez, of, Colegio Hector Urdaneta, Ceiba.
The 6-foot-4, 180-pound Fernandez has shown so much improvement this
spring, and has such a diverse set of tools and skills, that it is
difficult to pin down exactly where he should line up in this draft
class. A former catcher who was converted full-time to the outfield
only this spring, Fernandez shows flashes that he can handle center
field in the long term, but may be pushed to right field at some
point as he gets stronger. Fernandez, a switch-hitter, is also just
on the cusp of developing the kind of power, especially from the left
side, that would enable him to profile well in right field but would
make him an even more-coveted prospect as a center fielder. There is
enough mixed opinion among scouts on Fernandez’ worth that he could
range from being the third Puerto Rican position player off the
board, just behind shortstop Jesmuel Valentin Diaz, or could go as
low as the fifth such player drafted.BEST
OUT-OF-STATE PROSPECT, Puerto Rico Connection:
Bryan De la Rosa, c, Olympic Heights HS, Boca Raton, Fla./Bucky Dent
Baseball Academy (Grew up/lives in Toa Alta).Top
2013 Prospect:
Yan Hernandez, ss, Carlos Beltran Academy, San Lorenzo.Top
2014 Prospect: No
established prospect.HIGHEST
DRAFT PICKS
Draft
History:
Ramon Castro, c, Rivera HS, Vega Baja (1994, Astros/1st round, 17th pick).2006
Draft: Hector
Correa, rhp, Lorenzo Coballes Gandia HS, Hatillo (Marlins/4th round).2007
Draft: Reynaldo
Navarro, ss, Puerto Rico Baseball Academy (Diamondbacks/3rd round).2008
Draft: Javier
Rodriguez, of, Puerto Rico Baseball Academy (Mets/2nd round).2009
Draft: Reymond
Fuentes, of, Fernando Callejo HS, Manati (Red Sox/1st round, 28th pick).2010
Draft: Eddie
Rosario, of, Rafael Lopez Landon HS, Guayama (Twins/4th round).2011
Draft: Jorge
Lopez, rhp, Academia de Milagrosa, Cayey (Twins/2nd round).2011
DRAFT OVERVIEW
College
Players Drafted/Signed:
0/0.Junior
College Players Drafted/Signed:
1/1.High
School Players Drafted/Signed:
13/9.BEST
TOOLS
Best
Athlete: Carlos
Correa, ss, Puerto Rico Baseball Academy.Best
Hitter:
Jesmuel Valentin Diaz, ss, Puerto Rico Baseball Academy.Best
Power:
Carlos Correa, ss, Puerto Rico Baseball Academy.Best
Speed:
Eduardo Rivera, of, Adolfina de Puig HS, Toa Baja.Best
Defender:
Carlos Correa, ss, Puerto Rico Baseball Academy.Best
Velocity:
Edwin Diaz, rhp, Naguabo HS.Best
Breaking Stuff:
Jose Orlando Berrios, rhp, Papa Juan 23 HS, Bayamon.Best
Command:
Jose Orlando Berrios, rhp, Papa Juan 23 HS, Bayamon.TOP
PROSPECTS, GROUPS ONE and TWO
GROUP ONE (Projected
ELITE-Round Draft / Rounds 1-3)1. CARLOS CORREA,
ss, Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, Santa IsabelThe 6-foot-4, 200-pound
Correa has received so much exposure over the last 18 months that he
has practically been assured of breaking the existing record for the
highest drafted Puerto Rican on record. That mark is currently held
by catcher Ramon Castro, the 17th overall pick in 1994, and the gifted Correa should not only blow past
that mark but he remained on the short list of candidates to be the
first pick overall on the eve of the draft. After being named the
first Perfect Game All-American from Puerto Rico last summer, leading
to his participation in the prestigious PG All-American Classic in
San Diego, and receiving the award for the top defensive player in
the 2012 class that coincides with that event, Correa has only
improved his game even further this spring, especially with the bat,
which now grades out as advanced a tool as any player in the current
high-school class. The biggest talking point among scouts concerning
Correa’s overall game is the speculation on whether he will remain
at shortstop over the long haul, given his extreme arm strength and
athleticism, especially as his frame fills out. Though he ran the 60
in 6.69 seconds at the recent Excellence Games in Puerto Rico, there
is ongoing concern that he may eventually slow down and be forced to
move over to third base. The potential of Correa’s power playing in
the middle of the field, though, makes him the highest-ceiling player
in the draft and will likely prompt the team that drafts him to keep
him at shortstop for as long as possible. A point less discussed is
that Correa, a University of Miami recruit, is a 4.0 student who
speaks English fluently. He is also well-traveled and comfortable in
the United States, something that will benefit him immediately when
he enters professional baseball.

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